Constraining the density dependence of symmetry energy from nuclear masses

TL;DR

This paper derives the density dependence of nuclear symmetry energy from nuclear mass data, providing a new method to estimate the symmetry energy slope parameter and neutron skin thickness with improved precision.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach linking nuclear masses to symmetry energy density dependence using microscopic density distributions.

Findings

Estimated symmetry energy slope parameter L = 59.0 ± 13.0 MeV

Provided a method for precise neutron skin thickness determination

Validated the approach with spherical and deformed nuclei

Abstract

Empirically determined values of the nuclear volume and surface symmetry energy coefficients from nuclear masses are expressed in terms of density distributions of nucleons in heavy nuclei in the local density approximation. This is then used to extract the value of the symmetry energy slope parameter $L$. The density distributions in both spherical and well deformed nuclei calculated within microscopic framework with different energy density functionals give $L = 59.0 \pm 13.0$ MeV. Application of the method also helps in a precision determination of the neutron skin thickness of nuclei that are difficult to measure accurately.